[Obturator hernia]

Obturator hernias are a rare type of hernias. Their incidence reported in large studies is 0.7% of all hernias. An obturator hernia may be the cause of otherwise unexplainable long-term dyspeptic complaints or subileous complaints and in the acute stage the cause of etiologically obscure obturation ileus. The difficulty of diagnosis is apparent also from the fact that a correct preoperative diagnosis is made only in 25-33%. Usually the diagnosis is established on operation of acute ileus. In these patients the mortality varies within a wide range of 12-70%. The authors recommend therefore to focus attention in chronic repeated dyspeptic or subileous conditions on predisposing factors in the case-history (female sex, 7th-8th decade, concurrent chronic disease, marked weight loss) and to examine also the only specific symptom of this hernia (Howship-Romberg sign).